Kitbashing Boomhowler 3

Boomhowler, the Destroyer, is a great model. Dessa painted mine recently, and I really enjoy how he works with Trollbloods. It occurred to us that we might want another for a Mercenary or Minion army, but didn’t want to spring for another Riot Quest Winter Wasteland box. So, how does one kitbash a Boomhowler 3?

Axe and Hands

I started with the axe and hands. I had an extra Ragnor model from some bulk purchases. Ragnor’s arms are really bulky when compared to most trolls. I didn’t realize how buff that guy is.

The axe I’m using isn’t technically the correct axe. It does come from a Khador warjack, but I guess it’s a Juggernaut axe rather than a Destroyer. The shaft and endpiece came from two other warjack weapons, some sort of spear or something.

Body, arms and shoulder pads

The body is coming from an extra Fennblade. The shoulder pad which should be a Cygnar jack is going to be a Crucible Guard jack.

Boomhowler also has a Khador shoulder pad, probably from a soldier. I snipped one off of an extra winter guard arm for sizing. It looks good, but…

Slight scale creep on the shoulder pad.

the arm is angled differently, preventing the slightly smaller shoulder pad from fitting in a convincing manner. Instead, I decided to use a man-o-war shoulder pad that I thought I had lost many years ago. It somehow found its way into my bits box, so one of my shocktroopers is missing his, and will always look like the odd man out.

Head swap

I don’t much care for the headband-wearing fennblade. I much prefer the hat wearing highwayman. I also looked at the possibility of using an extra Gunnbjorn head. But, with some material removal, the highwayman works for me.

After clipping…

I don’t know if I like using my rotary tool on plastic. I think it actually works better with metal. There are a lot of fuzzy bits that have to be scraped off after grinding.

A little green stuff is all that’s needed for this Boomhowler to keep his head on straight.

To top it all off…

Boomhowler normally sports a frill. It’s evolved through the ages; each sculpt of Boomhowler is a different size, and the frill looks different every time. I started by trying to make a frill from green stuff, but ended up with an accidental beret.

What have I done?

End result

Not my best, but certainly not my worst conversion ever. I wish I had noticed the left arm should have been facing knuckle up. I guess he just drew his axe, and is about to start swinging, rather than mid-mow. I like to think of this version being just a split second ahead of the other in terms of where he was freeze-framed.

Also, note the chest replaced with a box, and the beer mug replaced with a keg. The shield bearing the Cygnar swan is now a Menoth shield.

Overall, I am happy with my conversion. I thought about flipping the left arm around, but see no practical way of putting it back together if I cut it off. Perhaps I might before I send it to my painter (Dessa). We’ll see.

Hope you enjoyed this conversion walk-through. If you decide to do something similar, I’d like to see it. Good luck!


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